Key-fastener



1LT. MILLER.

KEY FASTBNER.

(No Model.)

No. 800,387. PatQntedJune 17, 1884.

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ROBERT T. MILLER, OF COVINGTON, KETUCKY.

. KEY-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,387, dated June 17, l884.

Application filed March 17, 1884.

To all whom it T12/ty concern/.1

Be it known that l, ROBERT T. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Covington, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key-Fasteners, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to an improvement in key-fasteners, and has for its especial objects, lirst, to so retain the key in the lock as to prevent its being turned by the use of outsiders for burglarious entry; second, to afford means whereby the key cannot be shaken from the door or abstracted therefrom by children and mislaid, thus saving much annoyance and expense 5 and, third, to so combine the key and fastening device as that they will be inseparable and always at hand, if desired.

My improved device consists in providing the key with a metallic tag or secondary escutcheon, which is slotted so as to engage with and hang upon pins attached to the ordinary escutcheon, the said pins being provided with heads, hooks, or other means, in order that the tag may not be displaced by manipulation from the opposite side. This tag is designed to be counterpart oi' the escutcheon itself, so that when in position it will appear to the eye as the escutcheon proper.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a key with tag attached. Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the key in the lock with the bolt shot forward and the tag in position, holding the stem or shank of the key so as to prevent its being turned. Figs. 3 and *i show the tag used in a inodiiied form, Fig. 3 representing the shank of the key unfast-ened, while Fig. 4 shows it as fastened and incapable of being turned.

A is the tag, and K the key attached to same. The tag is provided with a keyhole similar to that on the escutcheon, and has slots S S, which embrace and engage with the pins P, attached to the escutcheon E, which is fastened to the door D, in the usual manner, by screws G. rlhe position of these slots and pins is immaterial. They may be situated, respectively, at the tcp and bottom, as se'en in Figs. l and 2, or at the sides, as shown in Figs. 3 and et, the only difference being that in the former case the key can be detached from the door or tion.

lock, while .in the latter it is permanently af- (No model.)

fixed thereto, the tag being so employed as to permit the turning of the key without allowing its detachment.

F is the linger-piece by which the tag is actuated. One or more such ngcr-pieces or ears may form an integral part oi' the tag and be placed at the end thereof, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, or at the sides, as illustrated by Figs. 3 and 4.

The operation of my device in the ca-se of the detached key is as follows: The key is inserted into the lock, with the tag in an inverted position, as shown more clearly in Fig. l.

The bolt is then shot forward and the tagslipped or placed over the pins, when it will, of its own gravity, descend until it strikes the pins, the heads of which prevent the tag from `falling forward, and retain it securely in posi- The inversion of the tag causes the oblong portion of its key-hole to embrace the stem of the key (which in the drawings is shown as flat) and prevents any possibility of its being turned. In ease the key-shank be round, it may be notchednt the point of contact with the tag and the saine result acquired. Neither' can the key be pushed out of the lock from the outside, as the shoulder formed at the end of the shank is greater in width than the oblong portion of the key-hole in the tag, which, pressing against the rear of the tag, will prevent the key being withdrawn while the shank is in its lcckedposition. In order to unlock the door, the tag is raised or moved up. This releases the shank, and the key may be turned and taken out, if desired.` If the desire be to only unlock the door, and not remove the key, the tag is raised suiliciently to allow the key to be turned. The tag can then be dropped, as formerly, and thus can all danger of niislaying or rattling out be obviated. When it is desired that the key remain permanently in the door, I make the slots S of equal width throughout, and construct the pin-heads of suiiicient diameter to cover the slots and hold the tag or secondary cscutcheon in place, making sufficient allowance for the play before described. This modied form is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Ithus provideasimple, cheap, and efficient means for accomplishing the objects described, and one that in no wise detracts from the appearance of the work to which it may be applied. Of course, if

deemed advisable, the tag and key can be disconnected and used in that forni; but for use in hotels and other places Where the keys are always in demand and used by different per- 5 sons it is preferable that one should be inseparable from the other.

I claiml. In a key-fastener, the combination of a rigid escuteheon provided with headed pins Io and asecondary eseutelieon or tag with key permanently affixed thereto, said tag being provided with a finger-piece, F, and slotted openings, to engage With the pins on the rigid eseutelieon, and with a slot from the opening I 5 through which the shank of the key passes, and which, when opel-ated substantially as ROBERT T. MILLER.

Witnesses:

JEPTHA. GARRARD, PHILIP S. GOODWIN. 

